Ramsey Muniz Life Sentence Questioned

Enclosed is a memorandum sent to Ramsey Muniz
regarding his legal case. Know that we are
very encouraged about this information, and
remain optimistic. Please distribute.
==Irma L. Muniz, via Sixth Sun Mailing List

July 28, 2005

According to the court, under the sentencing
guidelines, the offensive level applicable to your
case was 37, category VI. With this in mind, the court
found that the punishment in your case was mandatory
life imprisonment. Under the guidelines (see sentencing
transcript at p. 29) it appears that this finding is
incorrect. Level 37 with 9 criminal history points is
not category 6. It is category 4. (See sentencing table).
Thus, under category 4, the punishment required by the
guidelines is not life. It is 292-365 months [24-30 years]. The court
did it wrong. While this error appears to be harmless, under the
section 841 enhancement (with 2 prior convictions), the
contrary is the true. The record does not show that the
government followed the proper section 851 procedure.
To apply the section 841 enhancement, the government must
file a section 851 "notice" before trial (selection of
the jury). Here, the court’s docket does not show such
filing. The only "notice" concerning section 851 was
given at sentencing hearing concerning the enhancement.
(See sentencing transcript, at page 3). If this is
true, the government followed the wrong procedure and
there is law to support this fact. Your sentence of
life is void because by not filing the section 851
notice (before the jury selection), the government did
not give proper jurisdiction to the court. It has no
jurisdiction over the enhanced penalty of section 841.

With the available record, it is possible to assume
that this conclusion is correct. Nevertheless, we must
be 100 percent sure that this fact is accurate. Send
this letter, the sentencing transcripts, and the court’s
docket to Jesse Gamez for corroboration.

We have a jurisdictional argument for any court, at
any time, because a jurisdictional issue is never waived
or restringed by the AedpA’s 1 year time limitation.

www.freeramsey.com For background on Ramsey Muniz, see TCRR special report: Narco Politics vs. Civil Rights.